Links make possible the unique contextualization afforded
by the online medium. Linking to external primary source material on the
Web as well as internal contextualizing nodes can potentially enrich a
reading of a text by offering additional layers of information for readers
at varying levels of knowledge and interest in the subject. Regardless
of where the links lead, readers are much more likely to view contextualizing
material when it is easily and readily accessible by simply activating
a link (Landow, 1989). The link is the main vehicle for movement within
a web-based text. Clear navigation design is dependent upon the construction
of an effective link strategy so that readers have informed options for
moving through the text. Scholars tend to credit Landow’s “rhetoric of arrivals and departures” as
the cornerstone for designing an effective link strategy. Landow (1989) determined
that “the very existence of links conditions the reader to expect purposeful,
important relationships between linked material” (p. 42). In an effective
rhetoric of departure, the author sets clear expectations in the link text
and surrounding context regarding what readers can expect to find when they
click on the link. In an effective rhetoric of arrival, the writer satisfies
those expectations with relevant content.

So important is the concept of linking within online texts
that, for its early years Kairos developed a special position—“links
editor” to oversee the incorporation and function of links within webtexts,
as well as a set of guidelines—a “Links
Policy”—for
assessing link strategies within web-based texts. In his Logging
On piece
(1997), Nick Carbone supports the guiding principle
of the policy, which is aligned with Kairos’s practice of
granting freedom to authors: “The
policy creates a consistent sensibility, a rhetoric—or rationale, if
you prefer—of linking that can be followed from piece to piece, issue
to issue, while at the same time allowing for both authors’ needs and
an ever changing technology.” Some of the guidelines include:

All links should contribute to the possible meanings and readings of
the texts; linking for the sake of linking is discouraged.

Authors should attempt to make clear where links are going so that readers
may make informed navigational decisions.

Links to external nodes should point,
to the best of the author’s
knowledge, to stable sites and resources.

The issue of stability in reference to external linked
material highlights a unique problem encountered in the online environment.
Particularly as texts age, the links to external source material may not
remain active. In his study titled, “Hyperlink Obsolescence in Scholarly Online Journals,” James
Ho (2005) provides several examples of the types of broken links readers
may encounter: the link may lead nowhere (e.g., activating the link leads
to a “404” or “object not found” error message);
the link may lead to a subscriber log-in page, thereby limiting access to
the material intended for view; or the link may lead to a homepage of a magazine
or publisher rather than to a specific article. All of these possibilities
are frustrating to readers who have begun to rely on a free and accessible
connection to external web sources, and they appear to nullify the added
value of this type of contextualization made possible by the webbed environment.
Greg Siering concedes that dead links, particularly in archived texts, are
a problem: “There is just no practical way to ensure all those links
work forever” (Kairos FAQ 4.1). However, Siering encourages
authors to include an “External Links” page which works like
an annotated bibliography of links: “These pages list each outbound
link within a hypertext and provide a brief description of the target site
and the reason for the link.”

The language of the links policy emphasizes the importance
of constructing links rhetorically. In “Linking
Styles and Strategies,” Seiring
described the theory underlying Kairos’ link policy: “Much
of the cognitive structure and the epistemological underpinnings of a webbed
document rely on how the hypertext tool of the link is used;
how an author connects the nodes in a hypertext says much about how he or
she expects a reader to accept, engage, or appropriate the text.” He
continues by saying that attention to hypertext style is a crucial aspect
of any hypertext writing because the style “influences how a reader
can interact with a text.” Often touted as one of the most exciting
aspects of hypertextual writing is the reader’s meaning-making power
made possible through the availability of link options. Unfortunately, if
writers fail to provide an effective rhetoric of departures and arrivals
as part of their link strategy, the reader, Siering wrote, “is forced
to make rather uninformed decisions when navigating a hypertext” and
therefore risks becoming disoriented and unempowered. As means of enacting
the links policy, Siering published a rubric for assessing the style in which
the author connects nodes within a hypertext. The rubric includes questions
such as: “If links are buried in the text, does the author typically
link from individual words or entire phrases?” and “Can readers
tell where the next node is going conceptually?”

As evidenced by some of the shared language in this rubric, Siering supported
many of the ideas that hypertext critics espouse for the creation of an effective
link strategy; therefore, it can be argued on the basis of Kairos editorial
policy that standards for web-based scholarship include attention to these
online conventions. Question 8 in Category B of the assessment tool is designed
to evaluate the extent to which a webtext incorporates links and follows
an effective link strategy according to the standards outlined above:

Question 8: Link strategy

a) Type of link contextualization (select all that apply)

The webtext includes one or more
links to external content (including links to online references from
the references node). [ECL – external
context links]

The webtext includes one or more
links from content nodes to the references node. [IRL – internal
references links]

The webtext includes one or more
navigational links from an overview or main menu to separate nodes. [IONL – internal
overview navigation links]

The webtext includes one or more
navigational embedded links between nodes. [IENL – internal embedded
navigation links]

Other

b) Rhetoric of arrivals and departures

A majority of link text follows a rhetoric of arrivals and departures.

The webtext includes some blind links that may affect reader navigation.